The JNA's overwhelming military superiority was not fully used against Slovenian forces which it could have easily crushed. Despite its control of approximately 30 per cent of Croatian territory, JNA forces experienced several problems. An estimated 25,000 draftees deserted, and the entire 32nd Corps, with its equipment, surrendered to Croatian forces in October 1991. According to Croatian sources, the JNA lost 618 tanks, 395 other armoured vehicles, and 100 aircraft during the fighting. In November 1991, the warring forces agreed to a JNA withdrawal from Croatia. On 1 March 1992, BH became the fourth Yugoslav Republic to declare its independence from the former Federal Government. The first three were Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia. The BH declaration of independence caused a split in that former Republic along ethnic lines. The large Serbian minority, approximately 33 per cent of the population, had passed their own referendum opting to remain a part of Yugoslavia in November 1991. Bosnian Serbs boycotted the March, BH-wide referendum on independence. The Bosnian Muslims, 44 per cent of the population, and ethnic Croats, 17 per cent of the population, voted overwhelmingly in favour of secession. This sparked a rebellion among the Serb population and led to the bloodiest fighting to date in the former Yugoslavia. The defeats in Krajina and later in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the role of the Yugoslav People's Army during the destruction of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia reduced the Army of Yugoslavia representing the remnants of the remnants of the onetime Yugoslav People's Army to a third-class role in Serbia and Yugoslavia. The Army has in many ways been eclipsed by the more politically dependable and better-equipped Serbian Special Force Police.

Yugoslav mechanized infantry brigades lacked sufficient mechanization. In 1990 fewer than 1,000 armoured combat vehicles and personnel carriers served almost 50,000 troops in frontline infantry units. Far fewer than one-half of all brigades were substantially mechanized. The majority of mechanized units were concentrated in eastern Croatia, Vojvodina, and Serbia along what would be the main axis of a Warsaw Pact invasion of Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav army had over 400 M-980 armoured combat vehicles and 300 M-60P armoured personnel carriers produced domestically. The infantry also operated more than 200 Soviet-made BTR-152, BTR40, and BTR-50 armoured personnel carriers, which had been purchased in the 1960s and 1970s. It had 100 M-3A1 half-tracked personnel carriers produced by the United States and a small number of new Romanian TAB-72 armoured personnel carriers. Armoured reconnaissance vehicles included a few older Soviet BTR-40s, newer BRDM-2 models, and domestic BOV and M-8 vehicles. Yugoslav Artillery regiments were well equipped with Soviet, United States, and domestic systems. Soviet artillery in these units consisted of approximately 1,000 towed 122mm howitzers, 130mm guns, 152mm gun/howitzers, and 155mm howitzers. There were about 700 older United States 105mm and 155mm towed guns and domestically produced models such as the M-65 in the artillery regiments. Towed pieces were very important for operations in the country's mountainous terrain. Artillery units operated Soviet 100mm and 122mm and Yugoslav-produced 105mm M-7 self-propelled guns. Those units had over 6,000 82mm and 120mm mortars, including a self-propelled 82mm mortar mounted on an M-60PB variant of the standard armoured personnel carrier. Yugoslav Artillery units operated several battlefield missile systems including 160 128mm YMRL-32 and M-63 multiple-rocket launchers. The arsenal included four launchers for Soviet FROG-7 surface-to-surface missiles. First fielded in 1967, the unguided FROG-7 had a range of 100 kilometres.

Yugoslav Antitank regiments had towed antitank guns, recoilless rifles, and Soviet antitank guided missiles. Antitank guns included 75-mm, 90-mm, and 100-mm models. They were Soviet produced with the exception of the 90mm M-63B2, which was manufactured domestically. The recoilless rifles were manufactured domestically and included 57mm, 82mm, and 105mm models. Two self-propelled 82mm recoilless rifles could be mounted on an M-60PB armoured personnel carrier. Antitank guided missiles were the Soviet AT-1 and AT-3. They were used in both antitank and infantry units, but because of their early vintage, effectiveness against advanced armour was uncertain. The four wheeled BOV-1 armoured reconnaissance vehicle could be equipped with six AT-3 launchers to serve as a highly mobile antitank platform. Larger Yugoslav army units had considerable tactical air defence assets, designed to defend major troop concentrations against enemy air strikes. The ground forces had four surface-to-air missile regiments and eleven antiaircraft artillery regiments. The former operated Soviet SA-6 mobile medium-range surface-to-air missiles as well as large numbers of shorter-range portable SA-7 and vehicle-mounted SA-9 missiles. Short-range systems also were employed in infantry units. Yugoslav antiaircraft artillery regiments operated over 5,000 guns. Self-propelled gun systems included the Soviet-made 57-mm dual ZSU-57-2 gun systems and the domestically produced triple 20mm BOV-3 and dual 30mm BOV-30. Large numbers of towed antiaircraft guns of many calibres were in the inventory. Of both domestic and foreign origin, they included pieces purchased from the United States, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, and Sweden. In general, the Yugoslav army's major deficiencies were its lack of adequate firepower and mobility. Infantry units were insufficiently mechanized to manoeuvre on a modern battlefield, and tank forces were largely outdated. Using equipment from the Soviet Union, the United States, and other countries, the ground forces had serious logistical problems, including irregular ammunition supply and maintenance of many nonstandard weapons systems. The Yugoslav army lacked sufficient fire support from the air force, although by 1990 the latter was acquiring additional ground attack aircraft and helicopters to perform this mission. The army emphasized developing or obtaining more effective vehicle-mounted and portable antitank guided missiles and antiaircraft missiles. A shortage was evident in advanced target designation systems including infrared sights and laser rangefinders.

The YPA became involved in internal security when unrest in Kosovo escalated in 1981. Under a declaration of national emergency, the army intervened to stop demonstrations by ethnic Albanians beyond the control of the People's Militia, and local militia. Hundreds of citizens were injured and some were killed during the YPA's suppression of the demonstrations. Some reports indicated that one-fourth of the YPA's total manpower remained in Kosovo to maintain order throughout the 1980s. The YPA presence added to local resentment; demonstrations resumed in 1987 and continued through the end of the decade. Use of military force against the domestic population to maintain order aroused controversy. Top government and party leaders, rank and file military, and government critics expressed varying opinions. Political leaders expected the military to ensure the unity of Yugoslavia and preserve its constitutional order against internal threats. Yet the internal security mission put the YPA under great stress because it was not structured or equipped for such activity. In Kosovo the YPA suffered intense hostility from the entire ethnic Albanian population, including armed attacks by local militants

The JNA's structure was changed several times since the Slovenian War of Independence. Three major military re-organizations took place in 1991, 1992 and 1993. But, until the summer of 1991, the JNA was organized into three Military Districts (MD) and a Naval Military District. The Air and Air Defence Force had a separate headquarters at the same level of command as the MD. The MD, designated the 1st, 3rd, and 5th, represented an intermediate level of command between the General Staff and actual combat units. Each MD was responsible for exercising Federal control of forces within its geographic region. The 1st MD, headquartered in Belgrade, was responsible for coordinating the defence of central and north-eastern Yugoslavia. Its estimated strength was 40,000 troops organized into six corps formations, plus units directly subordinate to the MD. Corps headquarters subordinate to the 1st MD were the following:

4th Corps, headquartered at Sarajevo;

5th Corps, headquartered at Banja Luka;

12th Corps, headquartered at Novi Sad;

17th Corps, headquartered at Tuzla;

24th Corps, headquartered at Kragujevac; and

37th Corps, headquartered at U ice.

In addition to these forces, the 1st MD had a mechanized infantry division (headquartered in Belgrade), three mixed artillery and anti-tank brigades, and a rocket artillery brigade directly subordinate to the MD headquarters. The 1st MD was thought to have 968 tanks, 633 armoured combat vehicles and 1,392 artillery pieces, including 92 multiple rocket launchers. 

The 3rd MD, headquartered in Skopje, was responsible for the defence of Yugoslavia's southern flank. Its estimated troop strength was 41,000, again organized into Corps and direct reporting units. The five Corps headquarters subordinate to the 3rd MD were:

2nd Corps, headquartered at Titograd;

21st Corps, headquartered at Niš;41st Corps, headquartered at Bitola;

42nd Corps, headquartered at Kumanovo; and

52nd Corps, headquartered at Priština.Two brigades of armour and two brigades of mixed artillery and anti-tank weapons were directly subordinate to the MD. The 3rd MD had 729 tanks, 472 armoured combat vehicles, and 1,190 artillery pieces, including 60 multiple rocket launchers.

The 5th MD, headquartered at Zagreb, was responsible for the defence of northern Yugoslavia and had an estimated troop strength of 35,000. The 5th MD had five Corps headquarters:

10th Corps, headquartered at Zagreb;

13th Corps, headquartered at Rijeka;

14th Corps, headquartered at Ljubljana;

31st Corps, headquartered at Maribor; and

32nd Corps, headquartered at Vara din.

The 5th MD had 711 tanks, 367 armoured combat vehicles, and 869 artillery pieces, of which 64 were multiple rocket launchers.

The successors of the YPA are the Army of Yugoslavia [VJ] and the Army of the Serb Republic [VRS], though in practice the distinction between these formations has declined with time. The Dayton agreement limited the number of heavy weapons of the army. At the beginning of 1998 the land forces had 90,000 members and 630 tanks (230 modern M-84's and the remaining 400 T-55's), 634 armoured personnel carriers and infantry armoured vehicles, 38 BPDM-2 armoured reconnaissance vehicles, 474 105mm and 122mm guns and howitzers, 180 130mm guns, 75 122mm self-propelled howitzers, and 132 152mm and 155mm howitzers. As of 1998 the Armed Forces were aligned into three Armies and one Corps:

The 1st Army is oriented toward the north and Croatia.

The 2nd Army is oriented toward Bosnia-Herzegovina

The 3rd Army is oriented toward the south and southwest -- Albania, Kosovo, and Macedonia.

The Special Purposes Corps includes a paratroop brigade, an armoured brigade, and a mixed unit of brigade strength for diversionary and reconnaissance actions and for antiguerilla and antiterrorist combat operations.

The 3rd Army, headquartered in Nis, is under the command of Lt Col Gen Pavkovic. The 3rd Army includes; Timok Tactical Group, Nis Corps, Leskovac Corps, Pristina Corps, 15th Mechanized Brigade, 52nd Mixed Artillery Brigade, 58th Light Mechanized Brigade, 102nd Mechanized Anti armour Brigade, 243rd Armoured Brigade, 549th Motorized Brigade. Air-Defence Rocket-Artillery Brigade has anti-aircraft missiles along with associated radar stations. Units of the 2nd and 3rd Armies of the Yugoslav Army have conducted exercises in counterinsurgency and anti-landing operations in the area of the Pester plateau in Sandzak, and have continued similar exercises in the Kosovo army.

At the beginning of 1998 the Ministry of Interior [MUP police forces were primarily responsible for internal security operations against the KLA in Kosovo, while the army was primarily responsible for border security. And initially there was very little cooperation between the police and the army. Apart from occasional actions by the Military Police, Army units were not used against the KLA prior to mid-1998, in part to prevent casualties among draftee soldiers, since casualties could trigger a negative political response by the conscript soldier's parents. The situation changed in April and May 1998, when the Army became actively involved in actions using heavy artillery and equipment which the police did not have in sufficient quantities. Subsequently, according to some reports the Yugoslav Army took over command of operations from the Serb Special Police. Armed forces currently deployed in Kosovo are part of the 3rd Army. Support could also come from the 98th Air Force Brigade, the 172nd Air Force Brigade, and the 119th Helicopter Brigade from bases in Kraljevo, Podgorica, and Nis. As of mid-1998 Pristina Corps units, commanded by Gen. Nebojsa Pavkovic, the seven brigades of the Pristina Corps, which are not fully manned in peacetime, have a total strength of some 7,000 men. Including the Pristina Corps' garrison in Krusumlija, the total strength of the Corps and its associated support units is about 10,000 soldiers, who are for the most part professional contract soldiers. In case of mobilization, these forces would grow to some 25,000 soldiers. As of early-1999 total VJ strength in Kosovo was approximately 15-16,000, with some reinforcements from other VJ formations outside Kosovo.

One armoured mechanized brigade is located in Pristina, and another is located in Urosevac. One motorized brigade is located in Kosovska Mitrovica and in Pec, and another located in in Djakovica and Prizren. These units are deployed in two main directions: garrisons in Leposavic, Kosovska Mitrovica, Vucitrn, Pristina, and Urosevac garrisons in Pec, Djakovica, and Prizren, which deal with forces entering from Albania. The BOV-3, a Self-propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun (SPAAG) based on the BOV-M A wheeled reconnaissance vehicle chassis with a triple mounted 20mm cannon in a turret, has been used in the ground role to good effect. The PRAGA, an armoured truck with a twin mounted 30mm cannon, is another SPAAG that has been used to great effect against houses and the KLA. Border security facilities include the watchtowers in the Morina, Gorozup, Pastrik, Kosare, Koznjar and other sectors. The Army of Yugoslavia has extended the depth of the border control zone to five or six kilometres, significantly impeding movement between Kosovo and Albania. Soldiers have mined the area along the border with Albaniaea

The war waged over recent years on the territory of the former Yugoslavia showed the importance of special units, and accordingly the Yugoslav Army [VJ] Special Forces Corps was formed in August 1992. At the time of its formation and for a long time thereafter the corps was an enigma, though over time systematic news reports and media presentations of the corps have revealed details of its organization. The Corps is represented in the Report on the Yugoslav Army prepared for the Subregional Arms Control Agreement, which includes the brigade organization of the corps. Since the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia [FRY] is one of the signatories of the Dayton Agreement, and of the Subregional Arms Control Agreement, the brigades are also defined by that document as objects of inspection. The Special Force Corps, which includes one motorized and mechanized guards brigade (armoured vehicles with wheels and tracks), is the elite unit of the land forces for operations under armoured vehicle protection. The guards brigade consists of approximately 1,000 men). The 63d Paratroop Brigade, based at Nis, belongs to the airborne units in charge of transport, jumping with various parachuting techniques, usually from aircraft. The factor of surprise with this type of unit is achieved with jumps at night. The 63d Brigade tripled in size during the war in Bosnia, and it participated in a number actions, even though the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia did not officially participate in the war. Several units were stationed in Bosnia during 1993 and 1994 without being properly deployed in actions or in clashes with para-military troops. Although it is called a brigade and should therefore have a strength of from 2,000 to 4,000 paratroops, the number of its members in peacetime is a rather smaller number of volunteer paratroops. Transport is done by the Antonov-26 aircraft, which can take 40 paratroops each (six aircraft go together) and by the Antonov-12 of an older generation (requiring 12 aircraft) that take 100 parachutists each.

The 72d Special Brigade (commandos) is an air force transport brigade equipped with MI-8 helicopters for vertical manoeuvres. It currently has fewer members (500) than at the time of its formation in the early 1990s. The 72d Brigade, which was mobilized in 1996 for possible action against the demonstrators in Belgrade, developed from the 63d Brigade, whose members are mostly soldiers bound with a contract. The Armed Forces of Yugoslavia [VJ] possesses organized special units of the Military Police primarily employed for antiterrorist actions. Such VJ formations are the Sokolovi [Falcons or Hawks] and Kobre [Cobras]. These are the most highly trained units of the corps for antiterrorist tasks, actions, and operations. Their use is regulated by a special document from the chief of the General Staff. The Armed Forces of Yugoslavia have invested significant funds in equipping and arming these special units, including firing silencers, optic-electronic devices for observance and shooting at night, and equipment for temporarily rendering targets helpless. Mobility is provided by special combat and non-combat vehicles. The "Kobra" anti-terrorist unit within the Special Force Corps, consists of two platoons and a total of 60 members, who are trained for activities with unconventional weapons such as crossbows. All types of units of the Armed Forces of Yugoslavia [VJ] can be used in certain situations against terrorists. However, from the standpoint of organization and capabilities for antiterrorist actions, existing special purpose units of the VJ for antiterrorist and antisabotage activities can be used most often. The first such unit for antiterrorist actions was formed 1978. Members of these units qualified for increased security and the protection of the highest military individuals, and, in certain cases, government officials, and especially for freeing hostages.

In 1966 a major purge of the Yugoslav internal security forces benefited the military in this rivalry. The de facto chief of the Department of State Security, or secret police (Uprava drzavne bezbednosti--UDB), Aleksandar Rankovic, was involved in the behind-the scenes struggle to succeed Tito. Allegedly on orders from Rankovic, the UDB covertly monitored the telephone calls of all major party leaders, including Tito. When Rankovi was finally dismissed, however, the official announcement mentioned only his responsibility for UDB brutality and repression of Kosovo's Albanian population. The military equivalent of the UDB, the Military Counterintelligence Service (Kontraobavesajna Sluzba--KOS) was instrumental in exposing UDB activities. The UDB was purged, its name was changed to State Security Service (Sluzba drzavne bezbednosti--SDB), and a YPA colonel general became its chief. In its new form the agency retained substantial secret police powers. The army maintained some control over the civilian security service since the 1966 purge. After the Croatian nationalist unrest of 1971, a colonel general became federal secretary for internal affairs (the secretariat controlling the SDB), and another became federal public prosecutor. Using such appointments, the military controlled the internal security forces until 1984. In 1990 a former chief of the YPA general staff was federal secretary for internal affairs.

During the 1980s, the SDB actively pursued its mission of identifying and neutralizing émigré organizations in foreign countries to inhibit their efforts to establish contacts and support inside Yugoslavia. A small number of émigré groups of various political persuasions and nationalities committed violent acts against Yugoslav interests abroad. Those acts sometimes included assassinations of Yugoslav diplomats or representatives abroad. Special attention went to pro-Soviet Yugoslav exiles, whose activities against the Yugoslav government were well supported by Soviet funds. Believing that such groups threatened public order, the SDB and its clandestine foreign intelligence units used various means to counter their activities. The SDB monitored the activities of the pro-Soviet CPY in Yugoslavia and other countries. In 1974 thirty-two Montenegrins convicted of organizing a CPY congress received prison terms of up to fourteen years. A long investigation of this case ended in the arrest of a Soviet diplomat in 1976.Another major task of the Yugoslav SDB was to monitor Croatian organizations in Austria, Sweden, France, West Germany, Canada, and the United States. Surveillance of those groups provided evidence for prosecuting Yugoslavs who contacted them when abroad and then returned home. The SDB reportedly abducted and assassinated prominent émigrés. A former YPA colonel who escaped imprisonment as an alleged "Cominformist" in 1948 was seized in Romania in 1976, clandestinely returned to Yugoslavia, and jailed. As many as twenty troublesome émigrés may have been killed in Europe by the SDB, other Yugoslav operatives, or their paid agents since the early 1970s. In 1981 two West Germans and one Yugoslav were convicted for murdering an émigré in West Germany. They were allegedly paid a large sum to kill a former SDB agent who defected from the security service while abroad. However, the Yugoslav government contended that most violence against emigres was committed by rival émigré organizations, not by the SDB.The SDB was responsible for identifying and neutralizing subversive elements regarded as threats to the constitutional order and the socialist self-management system. Both violent groups and peaceful dissidents were included in this broad category. Plainclothes SDB agents investigated and monitored such groups and infiltrated their ranks. One of the SDB's most effective weapons was the concept of social self-protection. It was the equivalent of the Territorial Defense Forces (TDF) in internal security matters. Article 173 of the Constitution declared the duty of all citizens to participate in social self-protection by reporting immediately to the SDB their knowledge of "hostile activities" including ordinary crime, political offenses, and terrorism.

The State Security Service functioned as a unified service on the level of Yugoslavia, and until Tito's death the service enjoyed clear autonomy on the republican level. The last Federal State Security Chief in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was Zdravko Mustac. At the beginning of the Kosovo crisis in the late 1980s republican autonomy was reduced, and the Yugoslav SDB gave preference to curtailing republican competences and strengthening control in Serbia. When the war broke out in Croatia in 1991, the SDB of the Bosnia-Herzegovina MUP [Ministry of Internal Affairs] severed all contacts with the Serbian SDB and the SDB of the Federal SUP [Secretariat for Internal Affairs]. The Federal State Security Service has not operationally existed since the disintegration of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and that it has existed only on paper, especially since the Interior Ministry of Serbia moved into the federal service's office building. Currently the State Security Service is engaged in intelligence and counter-intelligence activities. It is divided into departments for domestic problems and for extremists, analytical services, the technical service (bugging, filming, etc.), and a personnel department. It has agents who are recruited when necessary and paid for their work, including people inclined to crime but not necessarily criminals. The SDB's budget is top secret, and money partly comes from the Interior Ministry's budget, along with secret funds and other money that comes from goods seized by customs and fines for violations of customs regulations. The SDB also has legal export companies which also cooperate with some banks.

The State Security Service is responsible for protecting Slobodan Milosevic. Senta Milenkovic, the Serbian president's bodyguard, moved from the special unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to State Security in 1992. The Serbian secret service division is also in charge of the safety of President Milosevic's family. After the experience of March 1991, when mass demonstrations nearly toppled the regime, and other smaller clashes in more recent years, the SBD decided to take preventive action, infiltrating these special agents into all the structures of the university and all the gathering places of people that are potentially politically dangerous in crisis situations. Their intent was not only gather information, but also focus the crowd in a direction that the regime can control. They are responsible for "programmed provocations" such as battering official buildings with eggs rather than rocks. These "state provocateurs" also write prescribed graffiti on facades, distribute preprinted leaflets with content concocted by the police, spread rumors, and incite violence. All important telephone lines and interesting installations dangerous to the regime are eavesdropped on, including key departments in the SBD's own ranks. Through tapping mobile-phone connections, and especially through private radio stations, the secret police monitor the activities of students' leaders and the Serbian nouveaux riches. Using secret video cameras and photographs, the children of anti-regime figures under surveillance are also monitored.

The militia were organized into stations and substations in larger cities. They were involved in routine law enforcement as well as more sensitive cases involving ethnic groups. Cases ranged from physical attacks and harassment to homicide. In Pristina, site of a major university and a centre of Albanian ethnic dissidence, every confrontation with authority had the potential to erupt into large disturbances between ethnic communities. In 1990 that city had seven militia stations and four substations, serving a population of 400,000. With the proclamation of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia in 1990, adjustments were made sphere of internal affairs and the new structure of today's organization of the Ministry of Interior was established. Serbia is a republic with a large number of police forces. As of 1995 the Serbian police had some 80,000 regular members and many more if the reserves are raised. In 1996 it was estimated that the heavily armed police force consisted of over 100,000 members responsible for internal security. And in 1997 it was reported that there were some 48,000 policemen in uniform, and that there were between 60,000 to 100,000 MUP members, although the latter number was regarded as probably exaggerated. According to daily newspapers, Serbia's MUP costs $6 billion, which is a large sum, since the Yugoslav Army budget is only $1 billion. The police are better supplied and paid than the Yugoslav Army, and are equipped with 150 armoured personnel carriers and infantry combat vehicles and 170 mortars. The total number of police deployed to Kosovo and Metohija is guarded as a state secret. Sources say that some 12,000 uniformed police are stationed in Kosovo, and according to some claims, another 10,000 plain-clothes policemen should be added to this number, as well as state security members. This figure constantly varies as reinforcements are regularly sent to Kosovo, so that it could be estimated that the police strength in Kosovo stands at some 30,000 to 40,000. Keeping such a large number of policemen in Kosovo represents a substantial item in the MUP's budget and, according to some estimates it equals the total budget for the entire Belgrade police force.

The Federal Criminal Code of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia still remains in force. Considerable confusion and room for abuse remain in the legal system because the 1990 Constitution of Serbia has not yet been brought into conformity with the 1992 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Federal law gives republic ministries of the interior sole control over the decision to monitor potential criminal activities, a power that is routinely abused. It is widely believed that authorities monitor opposition and dissident activity, eavesdrop on conversations, read mail, and wiretap telephones. Although illegal under provisions of Federal and Serbian law, the Federal post office registers all mail from abroad, ostensibly to protect mail carriers from charges of theft.

The Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia carries out tasks of the State Administration that are related to: protection of the Republic of Serbia and detection of subversive and destructive activities against the constitutional order; protection of lives, personal and property security; prevention and detection of criminal acts and discovery and seizure of perpetrators and bringing charges against them; maintaining law and order; protection of meetings and other gatherings of citizens; protection of certain persons and objects; traffic security and security of roads; border crossing control; control of movements and stay at the border; control of movements and stay of aliens; acquisition, holding and carrying of weapons and ammunition; Production and distribution of explosive materials, inflammable liquids and gasses; Fire protection; Citizenship; Unified registration number of citizens; Identity cards; Travellers documents; Residence and stay of citizens; Training of staff as well as other tasks defined by the law.

These Ministry of Internal Affairs Special forces are known as "red berets" which is especially insulting for the military "red berets" of the Special Forces Corps. The term "Red Berets" also applies [confusingly] to veterans of the war in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina who have ad-hoc limited-term contracts with the Ministry of Internal Affairs for special risk missions. These contract employees are also engaged as security agents for various agencies or as personal guards for important officials. It is claimed that these forces participated in the election rigging (for Martic) in Krajina, and that there are war criminals among them. As the Serbian side found itself losing more and more in the wars in Croatia and Bosnia, an increasing number of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs policemen were placed on temporary duty there in order to help. First they went there discreetly, with false names, their operations were fully covered and they were paid well, but in the end, in the summer of 1995, they were leaving openly in large groups. The war waged over recent years on the territory of the former Yugoslavia showed the importance of special units. This was the impetus for the establishment of the so-called special brigade in Serbia, whose members later became known as "Red Berets." The red berets were worn only during marches, not during clashes, since the bright red colour would have given away a soldier's position. Good-quality equipment purchased in the West was characteristic of these were volunteer units, especially boots, costing over $200 per pair, which could endure long marches. State Security Officer Franko "Frenki" Simatovic is the commander of the Special Forces of State Security of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs. The "Red Berets" led by Simatovic and Raja Bozovic appeared in all stages of the war in the territory of former Yugoslavia, on various battlefields from Knin to Bihac. Vojislav Seselj's White Eagle and Arkan's SDG had operated jointly with the Red Berets from Serbia's Security Service when Zvornik was seized in 1992 and its population cleansed. Serbian police and Vojislav Seselj's forces also operated together in the Skelane area of eastern Bosnia, under the command of Obrad Stefanovic, Assistant Minister of Internal Affairs, and under that of his deputy, Simatovic.

During the campaign against Croatia in Western Slavonia, according to some claims Milosevic personally prevented the use of the Luna missiles installed on Mt. Petrova Gora, via orders to Simatovic's Red Berets formations. In March 1995 Ivica Vuletic, a Serb national, was placed on trial on charges of torturing and liquidating Croatian wounded and civilians in Aljmas, Bijelo Brdo, Sarvas, and Vukovar, killing more than 50 people, in the fall of 1991, as a member of the "Red Berets" special-purpose volunteer paramilitary units. Special Force Police are the mainstay of Serbian operations in Kosovo, and are equipped with armoured vehicles supported by helicopters and heavy weapons. The Special Force Police and other MUP formations have some 20,000 members permanently stationed in Kosovo, a number that could quickly be doubled by the deployment of officers from other locales. The Contact Group, made up of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and Russia, has demanded the unconditional withdrawal of Serbian special police forces and Yugoslav Army forces from Kosovo. But Milosevic has not been prepared to meet these demands, since this would create conditions in which the KLA could easily take over Kosovo and proclaim independence. As of mid-1998 several hundred policemen from the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs have refused to obey orders to go to Kosovo and enter the clashes with the Kosovo Liberation Army. Of these, some have resigned, and others have been suspended and disciplinary procedures started against them.